Following on from my posting yesterday on small is the new big I wanted to cover a bit about how a small business can behave like a bigger business but remain small.
The thing I like about being small is having control over the business, this means you control what it does, how it does it and with whom.
So you are small, and you like that, but you see the attraction of bigger business processes, well your on the right track, much of your success will be centred around how you run the business as much as the business itself.
There is no point having a great business idea or product that is let down by the administration, support or manufacturing.
So how does a small business change all that, simple, outsource, now that doesn’t actually mean a call centre in India as everyone always thinks when the word outsource is mentioned.
Another take on the outsourcing theme is to consider collaboration, find a partner, someone who you can form an alliance with, if your manufacturing setup is not up to the job look around, maybe consider buying a small stake in a manufacturing company, they already have the equipment, staff and expertise, you can provide some much needed capital but more importantly, you can provide ongoing work, everyone wins.
But what about outsourcing, well outsourcing is all about off loading the mundane that allows you to run and progress your business.
A common example of outsourcing would be your accounting, this maybe to a UK based bookkeeping operation, your accountant or even an off shore provider, it doesn’t so much matter where it goes (don’t misread this comment as meaning you should outsource to just anyone, far from it) only that is does, because your accounting function takes up much of your time, as a result you are either behind, which is never a good thing in business, or you are up-to-date but the rest of your to-do-list has gone out the window.
Administration, telephone answering, order taking, packing orders, delivery of orders, website maintenance, all these are functions that can be outsourced to companies that do only this.
In part it comes down to the art of delegation, most of us who set up our smaller businesses see them as our ‘babies’ and therefore are in danger of, at best assuming the responsibility for everything that has to be done, or at worst we don’t think anyone can do it like we can. Well here is the wake up call, they can’t, but that doesn’t matter, because they may actually be able to do that one thing better, and by outsourcing you are selecting those people who do that one thing really well.
So stop being all things to all men (or women) and outsource the mundane, get rid of the accounting, the telephone order taking and the rest, and concentrate on your business and providing the products and services to your customers in a manner that keeps them coming back for more. As Alastair commented on yesterdays posting, personal service is often a clincher, but providing what you promised is essential!
On Monday I will give some guidance on attracting and retaining the best staff, and how to keep those you want by your side.
Technorati Tags: SME, OMB, SOHO, Self Employed, Working for yourself, Small is the new big, Be small, Think Big, Solo Entrepreneur
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